So, this has been causing a bit of a major dungstorm - and rightly so. As it turns out, many carriers are installing a piece of non-removable privacy-invading spyware on their smartphones called CarrierIQ. It doesn't matter whether you have a webOS, Android, BlackBerry or iOS device - carriers install it on all of them. Luckily though, it would appear it really depends on your carrier - smartphones in The Netherlands, for instance, are not infested with CarrierIQ. Update: As John Gruber rightfully points out, ever so verbosely, the headline here isn't particularly well-chosen. The article makes all this clear, but the headline doesn't. It's my birthday today, so my head wasn't totally in it - my apologies! Update II: Just got a statement from an HP spokesperson: "HP does not install nor authorize its partners to embed Carrier IQ on its webOS devices."

I also love the Thief games, but playing a thief/assassin in the elder scrolls games is quite similar in a lot of ways (however, it has been a long time since I played Thief, so I may be missing some points).

Well I still play Thief and, dated as it is, nothing comes close to the atmosphere and feel of the game world itself. It was steampunk before steampunk was in the mainstream. And taken as a whole the gameplay is unique, though many other games borrow bits and pieces from it (Assassin's Creed, Deus Ex, Metal Gear Solid etc).

I will say that the Rogue class on World of Warcraft at least gave me the stalking/stealth and pickpocketing aspects of the game, which is why I always went for a Subtlety/Assassination build when playing one.

Well I still play Thief and, dated as it is, nothing comes close to the atmosphere and feel of the game world itself. It was steampunk before steampunk was in the mainstream.

Brazil or (particularly, with "pureness" of its steampunk) Final Fantasy VI were basically in the mainstream (not much less IMHO than it is not-really-mainstream now), quite a few years before Thief already. Maybe also The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, or Wild Wild West (that's 3 decades before Thief - any TV series surviving for four seasons had to capture popular attention)

(and you should really say things like "nothing comes close" in a less generalised way ;p )

Also, while Jules Verne novels apparently don't qualify as steampunk, it's less clear IMHO with their relatively recent & rather mainstream film adaptations.

And taken as a whole the gameplay is unique, though many other games borrow bits and pieces from it ([...] Metal Gear Solid etc).

Thief came out in late Autumn '98, while Metal Gear Solid in Summer of 98.
It is highly unlikely the former influenced the latter - if there was some influence going on, it was the other way around.*

Especially since Thief was quite under the radar IIRC; while MGS was big - loud, massively promoted and anticipated for quite some time before its première.
Furthermore, MGS is a sequel; it is essentially, in gameplay, a 3D Metal Gear 2 - we're almost back to the '80s here.

*Indeed, while quickly verifying première dates, a nearby snippet on Thief Wikipedia article suggests the game went through some tweaking during last months of development; it seems the anticipation and positive reception of MGS acted as a major motivator and catalyst to clean up, a bit "broken" at the time, Thief.

There's also, somewhat closer in overall concept and also quite loud (I remember how it stole a bit the spotlight from MGS anticipation), Tenchu - beginning of '98.